44 CFR 206.11 - Nondiscrimination in disaster assistance.

(a) Federal financial assistance to the States or their political subdivisions is conditioned on full compliance with 44 CFR part 7, Nondiscrimination in Federally-Assisted Programs.

(b) All personnel carrying out Federal major disaster or emergency assistance functions, including the distribution of supplies, the processing of the applications, and other relief and assistance activities, shall perform their work in an equitable and impartial manner, without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, or economic status.

(c) As a condition of participation in the distribution of assistance or supplies under the Stafford Act, or of receiving assistance under the Stafford Act, government bodies and other organizations shall provide a written assurance of their intent to comply with regulations relating to nondiscrimination.

(d) The agency shall make available to employees, applicants, participants, beneficiaries, and other interested parties such information regarding the provisions of this regulation and its applicability to the programs or activities conducted by the agency, and make such information available to them in such manner as the head of the agency finds necessary to apprise such persons of the protections against discrimination assured them by the Act and this regulation.

This is a list of United States Code sections, Statutes at Large, Public Laws, and Presidential Documents, which provide rulemaking authority for this CFR Part.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is considering implementing a Public Assistance deductible that would condition States' receipt of FEMA reimbursement for the repair and replacement of public infrastructure damaged by a disaster event. The primary intent of the deductible concept is to incentivize greater State resilience to future disasters, thereby reducing future disaster costs nationally. On January 20, 2016, FEMA (the Agency) published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking comment on a Public Assistance deductible concept. The ANPRM provided a general description of the concept that many commenters found insufficient to provide meaningful comment. In an effort to offer the public a more detailed deductible concept upon which to provide additional feedback, the Agency is issuing a supplemental ANPRM (SANPRM) that presents a conceptual deductible program, including a methodology for calculating deductible amounts based on a combination of each State's fiscal capacity and disaster risk, a proposed credit structure to reward States for undertaking resilience-building activities, and a description of how FEMA could consider implementing the program. At this stage of the rulemaking process, the deductible remains only something that FEMA is considering. The policy conceived of in this document is not a proposal. In this document, FEMA is providing what is merely a description of a direction FEMA could take in future rulemaking in an effort to solicit further feedback from the public. After considering the comments it receives, or as a result of other factors, FEMA may expand on or redevelop this concept.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is amending its Public Assistance and Fire Management Assistance Grant regulations to update the terms it uses to describe grantees and subgrantees, to reflect the terminology used in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance on Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is removing its environmental considerations regulations and replacing the regulations with a new Directive and Instruction on environmental planning and historical preservation requirements. DHS instituted procedures for environmental considerations that apply Department-wide (including FEMA) in a new Directive and Instruction. FEMA is issuing supplemental procedures to the new DHS Directive and Instruction; a Notice of Availability for these supplemental procedures appears in the Notice section of today's edition of the Federal Register .

2016-01-20; vol. 81 # 12 - Wednesday, January 20, 2016

81 FR 3082 - Establishing a Deductible for FEMA's Public Assistance Program

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is considering the establishment of a disaster deductible, requiring a predetermined level of financial or other commitment from a Recipient (Grantee), generally the State, Tribal, or Territorial government, before FEMA will provide assistance under the Public Assistance Program when authorized by a Presidential major disaster declaration. FEMA believes the deductible model would incentivize Recipients to make meaningful improvements in disaster planning, fiscal capacity for disaster response and recovery, and risk mitigation, while contributing to more effective stewardship of taxpayer dollars. For example, Recipients could potentially receive credit toward their deductible requirement through proactive pre-event actions such as adopting enhanced building codes, establishing and maintaining a disaster relief fund or self-insurance plan, or adoption of other measures that reduce the Recipient's risk from disaster events. The deductible model would increase stakeholder investment and participation in disaster recovery and building for future risk, thereby strengthening our nation's resilience to disaster events and reducing the cost of disasters long term. FEMA seeks comment on all aspects of the deductible concept.

2015-11-12; vol. 80 # 218 - Thursday, November 12, 2015

80 FR 70116 - Factors Considered When Evaluating a Governor's Request for Individual Assistance for a Major Disaster

FEMA proposes to revise its regulations to comply with Section 1109 of the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 which requires FEMA, in cooperation with State, local, and Tribal emergency management agencies, to review, update, and revise through rulemaking the Individual Assistance factors FEMA uses to measure the severity, magnitude, and impact of a disaster.